Halloween end of October fall colours

Taking a nice bike ride down the Lachine canal path, albeit a chilly windy and cool day, I made some paintings of fall colours and various industrial scenes. Here, I featured colourful red and yellow foliage with a rusty train bridge in the background and Lachine canal running through the middle. I quite enjoyed painting this one, I dare say I had fun!

Warm foliage drained canal, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, October 2026

Three scenes in one, we have stacks of things in an auto shop parking lot, an electrical station in the background with the highway, and one of the Verdun aqueduct towers visible behind the tree. With the paint drying slowly today, I made several paintings successively for each location. Start one, let it dry while starting another, then go back to the first one. 

Stacks of stuff electrical station, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, October 2026

The side of the auto shop, which backs onto st Patrick, has a large ZO (by ZONEK), which I changed to PJD instead. It was a neat textural challenge, and I had all the same colours on my palette that ZONEK must have had in their spray paint cans. 

PJS colour wall, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, October 2026

 

And a painting of the drained canal with train bridge. Usually this whole scene is under water, so it was neat to see what it looks like when drained. It was such a good place to stand I made all these paintings from the same spot, with decent sun, although a fierce wind barreling along the canal. 

Train drain, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, October 2026 

Frosty tree, thoughts on winter water

Yes a winter painting! But this one is from 30 years ago believe it or not, in fact, its one of the first winter paintings I ever made. The scene was in London Ontario at the main park downtown on a day with -10℃, which I wrote on the backs of one of these paintings. As it cools off, and luckily I did not need salt in the water for today's paintings although I brought some with me just in case, maybe its time to remember how to paint in the winter. I typically add salt, around 150g per 1L of water is good for -10℃, and 300g per L is good for -20℃. Usually I add 100g to 0.5L which fits in my container. Theoretically, salt water will not freeze down to -21℃ after which it will turn slushy and icy which I knew from experience too. Propylene is perhaps another option, at 60% propylene glycol the water wont freeze down to about -50°C, and a 50% solution will freeze around -30°C. Back in time, I did not know these things, and brought some warm water along with me to make winter paintings, but as you can easily see in the example above, ice crystals formed and it was difficult to finish the painting properly. Maybe if it gets cold again this winter I will try the propylene glycol trick. 

Frosty tree, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, 1996

Paint resupply, abstract paintings

Here is an abstract painting I made awhile ago, using a variety of warm earth colours with blue accents. It was a so-called palette cleanser, where I was cleaning the palette paints with a brush and using the excess to make a painting. Its also fun to just paint something without any constraints. With abstract the idea is to paint what you feel. Getting reading glasses was a mid-life chroma! 

Mid life chroma, watercolour 9 x 12" watercolour paper, October 2026

Realizing the supply chain and cost issues are creeping into the fine-art supply world, I decided to stock up on some of my favorite and most used paints. The first 6 tubes are DaVinci brand delivered from Studio Six Toronto, and the last six are Daniel Smith brand, mostly from Kama pigments Montreal except for the pink ones. The pink ones are called quinacridone lilac PR122, and I used to get a good version of it from Schmincke brand, but that brand is not really available anymore, and other companies do not carry it.

From left to right, these are 37mL tubes of raw sienna (PBr7), raw umber (PBr7), 2 x yellow ochre (PY43), and 15mL tubes of 2 x DaVinci yellow (PY154), followed by bismuth vanadate yellow (PY184), burnt yellow ochre (PR102), lamp black (PBk6), phthalo green yellow shade (PG36), and 2 x  quinacridone lilac (PR122). Should last me awhile!  

One last painting I did, after being reminded at work about the importance of getting 'high impact' publications, I did this painting instead. Its a high impact painting... like lots of clashing colours. You would think 'high impact' is a bad thing after all, like collisions, but in science it seems to be a good thing, it means you spent a lot of money on the research project. 

High impact, watercolour 9 x 12" watercolour paper, October 2026

 

Sundown shadows parking lot

Capturing the setting sun and glints off car-tops took some deft brushwork. Its that time of year when painting outdoors becomes increasingly difficult due to cold moist air, although so far its been an excellent autumn. Getting shadow values correct is also tricky in watercolour, you have to apply it a shade or two darker to anticipate how looks after drying. 

Sundown car shadows, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, October 2026

A quick study of the passing commuter train, one of the newer ones, with some earthy-yellow/orange trees. An art store chain Deserres, recently discontinued Schmincke paint, reduced their Daniel Smith selection substantially, and were out of stock on most PWC brand paints. Thinking ahead, I decided to make a round of purchases at Kama Pigment Montreal and Studio Six Toronto. One paint in particular, quinacridone magenta (PR122) was hard to get, so I ordered two tubes of it. Maybe supply chain and cost issues are going to hit watercolour paints and art retailers as stocks dwindle. 

Train passing trees, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, October 2026

Looking east, its part of the sports dome, and the PERFORM Centre casting a shadow across the rear parking area. That shadow colour is a mix of quinacridone purple (PV55) and phthalo green blue shade (PG7). I received the Kama Pigment shipment already, got Daniel Smith 15mL tubes of Lamp black (PBk6), burnt yellow ochre (PR102), phthalo green yellow shade (PG36), and bismuth vanadate yellow (PY184). 

Centre dome rear view, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, October 2026

 

Underground tunnel signs of autumn

Riding east along the st Jacques bike path and I encountered many construction sites, and finally stopped off at Montagne street where underground highway 136 emerges. I paint there frequently because there are good sight lines, angles, and plenty of sun comes in which is a rarity in the city especially in the autumn and winter. These signs are reminding drivers to turn right, no left, no right... on Montagne street. 

Right right right, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, October 2026

Along the exterior of the tunnel exit there are a number of power boxes and cables that are no doubt connected to the many lights within the tunnel. Graffiti adorned the stainless steel boxes, which I replaced with my own initials and year. To paint stainless steel, I applied a warm wash, then tinted it blue on top, and yellow-green on bottom. In doing so, it gives the illusion of reflecting the sky and green grass. 

Tunnel power lines, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, October 2026

Standing up behind the retainer fence, its surrounded by an open lawn next to the dog park, I got this view of cars coming out of the tunnel. Yellow signs said turn right, and watch out for pedestrians. Towards the upper right of this scene, I depicted some of the tents that were set up, people were living in them. As drivers sped past the people living in tents, I noticed a parallel, this is, the car shadows and the tent shadows looked very similar. Regardless of our status in the world, we all cast the same shadows. 

Exit looking down, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, October 2026

 

Turquiose wall glow Cabot street

In the background you see one of the canal bridges for autoroute 10, in the foreground is part of the massive mural wall on Cabot street. The turquoise sun-facing side is a tribute to SCAN, a late graffiti writer who uses to paint in this area and around the city. 

Graffiti wall canal bridge, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, October 2026

I walked past this scene thinking it was too hard to paint and I was tired yesterday after doing quite a few paintings already. Then I figured, paint it while its there! In this version, two white cars were parked next to the turquoise mural wall, and strong sun created an eerie glow. 

White cars green glow, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, October 2026

The same two white cars from another angle and up close. The mural, unseen to my left, was reflecting off the car, and creating a turquoise glow. To emphasize the turquoise I created violet shadows underneath, and made sure the rest of the scene were warm earthy colours and a bright blue sky. Its a neat painting and I am glad to have hung in there and did these ones. 

White cars mural reflection, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, October 2026 

Pink house, highway signs, drained canal

Making my way over the canal lock, there was a good view of the pink house atop the Old Malt factory that is being torn down. I added a drone in the sky, since there were people flying one again, probably to get video of the ruined structure. My initials PJD adorn one of the silos, along with SAKE, a famous retired writer (graffiti artist/vandal). 

Pink house over trees, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, October 2026

Off in the distance, highway signs from auto route 10 could be seen over autumn-coloured trees. I liked the contrast between the bright blue/green/yellow of the background, with earthy pastel colours of the foreground elements. 

Highway signs autumn colours, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, October 2026

Some mallard ducks were making the most of it, a partially drained Lachine canal. The locks are shut down for the season, and they drop the water level to minimum so as to avoid ice-stress on the structures. You can see the rocky ramparts that spend most of the year under water. That is st Patrick street on the top left.  

Drained canal, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, October 2026